Pumping units each including a priming and a delivery pump



F. E. DADDARIO Filed April 2, 1962 F PUMPING UNITS EACH INCLUDING A PRIMING AND A DELIVERY PUMP Feb. 18, 1964 and pumping liquid.

United States Patent 3,121,397 PUMPING UNITS EACH INCLUDING A PRIMING AND A DELEVERY PUMP Francis E. Daddario, 1418 Commonwealth Ave, Newton, Mass. Filed Apr. 2, 1962, Ser. No. 184,286 9 Claims. (Cl. 103-113) The present invention relates to pumping units of the type having a priming and a delivery pump.

In my earlier Letters Patents oi the United States, No. 2,841,088, dated July 1, 1958, No. 2,883,936, dated April 28, 1959, and No. 2,972,958, dated February 28, 1961, there are disclosed pumping units of the above generally indicated type in which the priming pump is self-primed. This objective is attained by providing a priming liquid tank above the priming pump with its inlet in communication With the lower part of the priming tank and its outlet in communication with the upper part thereof. With this arrangement, the priming pump is primed by the liquid in the priming tank and operates to circulate liquid from the bottom to the top thereof. pump outlet has an ejector whose suction intake is in communication with the inl t side of the delivery pump so that the operation of the priming pump also causes the priming of the delivery pump.

In operation, the priming pump delivers fluid from the inlet side of the delivery pump to the priming liquid tank and for that reason, the priming tank has an outlet. In the above referred to patents, the priming tank outlets were valve controlled and arranged so that they could be connected to the outlet of the delivery pump.

The amount of liquid delivered into the priming tank via the ejector is, of course, substantial, but the qualitative value of such liquid is not great due to the large amount of air that is necessarily pumped along with it in the course of priming the delivery pump. The problemof handling the excess liquid delivered to the priming tank is accordingly impoutant where its disposal as waste is undesirable for one reason or another. At the same time, flow through the tank of such excess liquid is of advantage in that overheating of the priming liquid is thereby prevented.

The principal objective of the present invention is to enable such exmss liquid to be delivered by the delivery pump utilizing, in part, the pumping CfilClBllCY of the priming pump and its ejector to increase the pumping efiiciency of the delivery pump.

In accordance with the invention, this objective is attained by providing the priming tank with means to deliver to the inlet of the first pump liquid in excess of a The priming predetermined maximum priming liquid volume, such mean-s having a capacity approximately equal to the capacity of the ejector when the priming pump is in service In this connection, the suction tube of the ejector may have a float control to regulate the liquid volume that passes there-through such as is 'disclosed in said Letters Patent No. 2,883,93 6.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a vented tank receiving the excess of liquid as an overflow and provided with a level controlled outlet so that the liquid delivered to the inlet of the delivery pump is relatively free of gases that may have been picked up in the course of the priming of the delivery pump.

Another objective of the present invention is to have the excess liquid delivered to the inlet side of the delivery pump at approximately the level thereof to increase the pumping eliiciency of the delivery pump to the fullest extent.

In the accompanying drawing, there is shown an illustrative embodiment of the invention from which these and other of its objectives, novel features, and advantages will be readily apparent.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side View of a pumping unit in accordance with the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section through the priming tank on an increased scale, and

'FiGURE 3 is a section, on the scale of FIGURE 2, taken along the generally indicated lines 3-3 of FIG- URE l of the priming tank.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated by the drawings, a first or delivery pump 10 has its inlet 11 disposed in conununication with a liquid source, not shown, and its outlet 12 is provided with a check valve 13.

A tank 14 is located above a second or priming pump 1'.) having its inlet -16 in communication with the lower part of the tank 14 and its outlet 17 in communication with the upper part thereof. A cylindrical balile 18 establishes a vent 19 in the cover 20 ot the tank 14- and freely receives within it the upper end of a standpipe 21. The pump inlet lie and the pump outlet 17 are preferably disposed approximately tangentially relative to the tank 14. A vent 22 vents the annular space above the outlet 17 and preferably it discharges into the vent 19. The baffle 18 is provided with an annular bafile 18A overlying the space between it and the standpipe 21.

The annular space 23 below the upper end of the standpipe 21 is for priming liquid for the pump 15, and, when the pump i5 is in service, such liquid is circulated from the lower part of the tank 14 to the upper part thereof. The outlet 17 of the pump 15 includes an ejector 24 provided with a suction tube 25 in communication with the inlet 11 of the delivery pump 1d so that the operation of the ejector is effective to prime it and to improve the eificiency thereof due to the liquid lift and to the removal of air or gasses. The suction tube 25 is provided with a check valve 26 to prevent loss of priming liquid when the priming pump 15 is not in pumping service relative to the inlet 11 of the pump Cit) but whenever it is in serviw, gas, liquid, or both is discharged into the tank 14. The suction tube 25 is also provided with a screen 27 disposed to define a part of the inner surface of the inlet 11. Any excess liquid delivered to the tank 14 flows into the standpipe 21 at the bottom of which there is an outlet 28 provided with a generally indicated valve 29 and connected to the inlet 11 close to the pump 10. The volumetric capacity of the outlet 28 is approximately equal to the liquid-delivering capacity of the suction tube of the ejector 24.

The valve 29 is shown, see FIGURE 2, as comprising a flexible member 30 clamped in place at one end by a cross bar 31.. At its other end, the member 30 is pivoted to one end of the angular link 32 whose other end is pivoted to a vertical rod 33 extending through an axial passage 34- in a float 35 with its upper end slidably guided by the bearing 36. The rod 33 has a flange 37 engage able by the float 35 by which it is raised with the upward movement thereof stripping the valve member 3d from its seat. The float 35 is prevented from dropping too far by reason of the steps 38. 7

With a pumping unit as thus far described, the priming pump 15 holds its prime and operates, by means of the ejector, to raise the liquid from the source to prime the delivery pump 19 with gas and liquid being discharged into the tank 14. The liquid level in the tank 14 rises to the point where it may flow over the upper edge of the standpipe and there it accumulates until the level thereof reaches the upper limit at which the float 35 rises to strip open the valve 29 to discharge the standpipe contents to the inlet side of the delivery pump 10 to be discharged thereby through the outlet 12. Such standpipe liquid is substantially deaerated and is preferably under a slight head with reference to the delivery pump 10.

While the delivery and priming pumps may be varied as to sizes and types, water sealed pumps are often used when the liquid being pumped is water. When the delivery pump is a water-sealed pump, water is delivered to its seal 10A via the overflow conduit 39 from the upper end of a standpipe 40 shown as exterior of the tank 14 and having an inlet 41 spaced above the bottom of the tank 14.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that pumping units in accordance with the invention are well adapted to suit the requirements since the priming pump is always self-primed and operative to prime the second pump and to supply liquid to the inlet side thereof to contribute to its pumping efiiciency.

The relative size and the types of the pumps may be varied as desired as may be the drives therefor. While the delivery and priming pumps are shown as separate, they may have a common drive and they may both be mounted on the same shaft. While mention has been made of decreasing the volumetric capacity of the ejector when liquid is being drawn through its suction tube, the capacity of the ejector may be increased during priming and more than one ejector may be employed. In some situations, it is desirable to provide increased ejector capacity even after priming or independently of any priming function when the system to which the inlet of the delivery pump is connected contains a substantial fluid content.

I claim:

1. In a pumping unit, a delivery pump including an inlet and an outlet, a priming tank for a predetermined priming liquid volume, a priming pump below said tank and including an inlet in communication with the tank adjacent the bottom thereof and an outlet in communication with the tank adjacent the top thereof whereby said priming pump is primed by liquid in said tank and circulates the liquid from the bottom to the top thereof, an ejector in the outlet of said priming pump, said ejector including a suction tube in communication with the inlet side of said delivery pump, and means to deliver to the inlet of said delivery pump liquid from said tank in excess of said priming liquid volume, said means having a capacity approximately equal to the capacity of said ejector when said priming pump is in service.

2. In a pumping unit, a delivery pump including an inlet and an outlet, a priming tank for a predetermined priming liquid volume, a priming pump below said tank and including an inlet in communication with the tank adjacent the bottom thereof and an outlet in communication with the tank adjacent the top thereof whereby said priming pump is primed by liquid in said tank and circulates the liquid from the bottom to the top thereof, an ejector in the outlet of said priming pump, said ejector including a suction tube in communication with the inlet side of said delivery pump, and level controlled means to deliver to the inlet of said delivery pump liquid from said tank in excess of said priming liquid volume, said means having a capacity approximately equal to the capacity of said ejector when said priming pump is in service.

3. In a pumping unit, a delivery pump including an inlet and an outlet, a priming tank for a predetermined priming liquid volume, a priming pump below said tank and including an inlet in communication with the tank adjacent the bottom thereof and an outlet in communication with the tank adjacent the top thereof whereby said priming pump is primed by liquid in said tank and circulates the liquid from the bottom to the top thereof, an ejector in the outlet of said priming pump, said ejector including a suction tube in communication with the inlet side of said delivery pump, and level controlled means to deliver to the inlet of said delivery p mp liq i from said tank in excess of said priming liquid volume, said means having a capacity approximately equal to the capacity of said ejector when said second pump is in service and including an outlet port, a flexible valve closing said port under a water head, and float controlled means connected to said valve to strip it from said port.

4. In a pumping unit, a delivery pump including an inlet and an outlet, a priming tank for a predetermined priming liquid volume, a priming pump below said tank and including an inlet in communication with the tank adjacent the bottom thereof and an outlet in communication with the tank adjacent the top thereof whereby said priming pump is primed by liquid in said tank and circulates from the bottom to the top thereof, said delivery pump having a water seal, an ejector in the outlet of said priming pump, said ejector including a suction tube in communication with the inlet side of said delivery pump, level controlled means to deliver to the inlet of said delivery pump liquid from said tank in excess of said priming liquid volume, said means having a capacity approximately equal to the capacity of said ejector when said priming pump is in service, and means in communication with the interior of said priming tank and delivering water to said seal whenever predetermined priming liquid level exists.

5. in a pumping unit, a delivery pump including an inlet and an outlet, a priming tank for a predetermined priming liquid volume, a priming pump below said tank and including an inlet in communication with the tank adjacent the bottom thereof and an outlet in communication with the tank adjacent the top thereof whereby said priming pump is primed by liquid in said tank and circulates the liquid from the bottom to the top thereof, an ejector in the outlet of said priming pump, said ejector including a suction tube in communication with the inlet side of said delivery pump, a second tank connected to said priming tank to receive therefrom liquid in excess of said volume, and level controlled means to deliver to the inlet of said delivery pump liquid from said second tank, said means having a capacity approximately equal to the capacity of said ejector when said priming pump is in service.

6. In a pumping unit, a delivery pump including an inlet and an outlet, a priming tank for a predetermined priming liquid volume, a priming pump below said tank and including an inlet in communication with the tank adjacent the bottom thereof and an outlet in communication with the tank adjacent the top thereof whereby said priming pump is primed by liquid in said tank and circulates the liquid from the bottom to the top thereof, an ejector in the outlet of said priming pump, said ejector including a suction tube in communication with the inlet side of said delivery pump, a second tank connected to said priming tank to receive therefrom liquid in excess of said volume, said second tank having an air vent, and level controlled means to deliver to the inlet of said delivery pump liquid from said second tank, said means having a capacity approximately equal to the capacity of said ejector when said priming pump is in service.

7. In a pumping unit, a delivery pump including an inlet and an outlet, a prim-ing tank for a predetermined priming liquid volume, a priming pump below said tank and including an inlet in communication with the tank adjacent the bottom thereof and an outlet in communication with the tank adjacent the top thereof whereby said priming pump is primed by liquid in said tank and circulates the liquid from the bottom to the top thereof, said delivery pump including a Water seal, an ejector in the outlet of said priming pump, said injector including a suction tube in communication with the inlet side of said delivery pump, a second tank connected to said priming tank to receive therefrom liquid in excess of said volume, and level controlled means to deliver to the inlet of said delivery pump liquid from said second tank, said means having a capacity approximately equal to the capacity of said ejector when said priming pump is in service, and a conduit effecting communication between said priming tank and said pump seal.

8. In a pumping unit, a delivery pump including an inlet and an outlet, a priming tank for a predetermined priming liquid capacity, a priming pump below said tank and including an inlet in communication with the tank adjacent the bottom thereof and an outlet in communication with the tank adjacent the top thereof whereby said priming pump is primed by liquid in said tank and circulates the liquid from the bottom to the top thereof, an ejector in the outlet of said priming pump, said ejector including a suction tube in communication with the inlet side of said delivery pump, a second tank within said priming tank and disposed to receive therefrom liquid in excess of said volume, a baffle between said second tank and the priming pump outlet, and a vent in common with said tank and level controlled means to deliver to the inlet of said delivery pump liquid from said tank in excess of said priming liquid volume, said means having a capacity approximately equal to the capacity of said ejector when said priming pump is in service.

9. In a pumping unit, a delivery pump including an inlet and an outlet, a priming tank for a predetermined priming liquid volume, a priming pump below said tank and including an inlet in communication with the tank adjacent the bottom thereof and an outlet in communication With the tank adjacent the top thereof whereby said priming pump is primed by liquid in said tank and circulates the liquid from the bottom to the top thereof, said delivery pump including a Water seal, an ejector in the outlet of said priming pump, said ejector including a suction tube in communication with the inlet side of said delivery pump, a second tank Within said priming tank and disposed axially thereof to receive therefrom liquid in excess of said volume, a bafile between said second tank and the priming pump outlet, and a vent in common with said tanks, and level controlled means to deliver to the inlet of said delivery pump liquid from said tank in excess of said priming liquid capacity, said means having a capacity approximately equal to the capacity of said ejector When said priming pump is in service, and a standpipe in communication with the interior of said priming tank and provided With an outlet in communication With said seal and operable Whenever a predetermined priming liquid level exists.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,162,247 Dean et al. June 13, 1939 2,315,946 Durdin Apr. 6, 1943 2,439,577 Norton Apr. 13, 1948 2,627,812 Mann Feb. 10, 1953 2,841,088 Daddario July 1, 1958 2,897,764 Tracy Aug. 4, 1959 2,972,958 Daddario Feb. 28, 1961 

1. IN A PUMPING UNIT, A DELIVERY PUMP INCLUDING AN INLET AND AN OUTLET, PRIMING TANK FOR A PREDETERMINED PRIMING LIQUID VOLUME, A PRIMING PUMP BELOW SAID TANK AND INCLUDING AN INLET IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE TANK ADJACENT THE BOTTOM THEREOF AND AN OUTLET IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE TANK ADJACENT THE TOP THEREOF WHEREBY SAID PRIMING PUMP IS PRIMED BY LIQUID IN SAID TANK AND CIRCULATES THE LIQUID FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP THEREOF, AN EJECTOR IN THE OUTLET OF SAID PRIMIMG PUMP, SAID EJECTOR INCLUDING A SUCTION TUBE IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE INLET SIDE OF SAID DELIVERY PUMP, AND MEANS TO DELIVER TO THE 